This episode picks up exactly where the last left off, as Jon Snow is recovering from the surprise attack Craster dealt him in the cliffhanger last week. The ending of last week’s episode is also fully explained, as we learn that Craster has been feeding his infant grandsons to White Walkers as offerings of appeasement. The Lord Commander explains to Snow that men like Craster are necessary for the protection of the Night’s Watch brothers.
Meanwhile, Renly Baratheon allows a woman named Brienne of Tarth to join his kingsguard after she defeats his lover Loras Tyrell in battle. Shortly thereafter, Catelyn Stark attempts to negotiate an alliance with Renly, which prompts him to claim that he will bring her Joffrey’s head.
Balon Greyjoy’s battle plan is also revealed, which entails him going after the North, while Robb Stark fights the Lannisters. He incites the rage of his son Theon, when he tells him that his sister Yara will receive 30 ships, while he will only get one. In these moments, Theon has to decide whether his allegiance is for his father or his surrogate family, the Starks. Inevitably, Theon gets re-baptized in the name of the Drowned God, a deity of the Iron Islands. This all happens in the one of the cooler scenes from this season, in which some priest character says the epic prayer of the Iron Islands while pouring water on a stern, determined Theon.
Shae, the mistress of Tyrion Lannister, becomes Sansa’s handmaiden in order to protect her secret occupation as a prostitute. Sansa attempts to give her tasks to do and ends up having some sort of sobbing breakdown. She is easily the most dreary, depressed character on this show.
Tyrion gets to shine once more, attempting to find out whether Grand Maester P (not Lil Romeo’s dad), Varys or Littlefinger is a traitor to him. He feeds them three versions of a story about an arranged marriage for Myracella, one of Queen Cersei’s daughters, and tells each of them that the queen must not find out. Later Cersei confronts Tyrion about the plan, which lets him know that Pycelle was the traitor.
Returning to Renly’s situation, we learn that he has married Loras’ sister Margaery Tyrell at some point between seasons. It is a political marriage meant for the purpose of getting the Tyrell family’s support for Renly’s future bid for the throne. It’s all very confusing stuff, for people like me who didn’t read the books. But what we do ascertain is that Margaery is aware that Renly is gay, and is willing to help him get her pregnant.
The final scene happens on Kingsroad, as Arya listens to Yoren’s story about ending up in the Night’s Watch. He explains in great detail how he remembered the boy who murdered his brother, as well as his efforts to avenge his death. Suddenly an alarm sounds, signaling the arrival of the king’s troops who are still searching for Gendry. What ensues is an epic fight between Yoren and the soldiers, who end up taking his life. The soldiers also kill a boy who had been wearing Gendry’s helmet. Arya uses this information to fool them into thinking they have accomplished their goal of murdering Gendry.
This was a very expository, disjointed episode. It was difficult to follow in parts, especially when information from the books was only implied. Peter Dinklage continues to shine as Tyrion Lannister, mixing stone-faced will with clever wit. The storyline involving Renly is very interesting but it needed a little bit more development for the sake of clarity. Looking forward, I anticipate Tyrion will keep making moves to capture the throne, and for god’s sake Joffrey needs to get his comeuppance.